I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.
OriginalNameByMe: Duly noted.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"In a land far far away lies the Kingdom of Fiore, a small and peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace. For most people, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some however, magic is an art, and they've devoted their lives to its practice. These are the wizards and mages, and banded together into magical guilds, they ply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore, but there is a certain guild in a certain town that stands high above the rest of them, one from which countless legends have been born, a guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. This guild is known as Fairy Tail."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A few weeks had gone by since the war between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord, and aside from the construction of the new guild hall, things had mostly returned to normal.
Gray and Natsu were doing their usual routine, as in beating up a bunch of thugs as part of a job request "Well this is about as underwhelming as you can get. So who the hell did you guys steal from, old ladies and little kids or something?"
"Don't act like this is over already…" one of the thugs grumbled "You punks are gonna be sorry soon enough, Lord Devon is gonna make you pay…"
"I'm pretty sure you mean this guy right?" that was when Luke came into the room with their boss slung over his shoulder "So how are you guys doing on your end?"
"How do you think? We're kicking ass."
"And you're also lacking any clothes."
"FUCK!"
"Seriously man." Luke blitzed over and slammed one of the thugs into the ground "Like I told you before, I don't care if you don't wear a shirt as long as you at least wear pants.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Soon enough, Luke and the others (Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy and the 2 cats) were making their way down the road back in the direction of Magnolia "Well it might not have been a real challenge, but after all of the hell with Phantom Lord I think it's safe to say a little bit of light work never hurt anyone."
"Oh come on!" Natsu let out a snarl "I wanna fight some more!"
"Yeah you would, but just put the dragon back in the cave and save your obvious anger management issues for the next job." Luke glanced back to see Juvia watching the group from afar 'I wonder how long that's gonna go on for? Oh well, I might as well talk to her and see if she wants to join Fairy Tail so that at least then she'll have a valid reason for watching Gray's every move.'
"Hey Luke check out this gem I got, pretty cool isn't it?" Bolt held up a small diamond in his paws.
"Hate to break it to you little buddy, but stealing from thieves is still stealing."
"Two wrongs make a right."
"That's the exact opposite of what's true."
"Hey isn't that Loke stalking us from afar again?"
"And now you're just changing the subject." Luke glanced back "Oh wait, actually yeah I think that is Loke."
Sure enough, Loke was making his way over to them "Hey guys, what's up?"
"Nothing really, just the usual routine of beating up a bunch of thugs that are all bark and no bite."
"Same old same old, huh?" but then he saw Lucy and he almost immediately started losing his shit.
"I'm actually glad we ran into you." Lucy waved and shot him a smile "I never got a chance to thank you for-"
"Sorry but I'd better hit the road, so long!" and then he promptly ran away in a comical fashion, leaving the others dumbstruck and Lucy pretty much livid.
"What the hell is that guy's problem?!"
Luke let out a sigh "I don't know what sort of problem he has with you, but whatever it is you really freak him out because of it."
"Hey it's not my fault he's insane!"
"You're in Fairy Tail, I think you'll find pretty much everyone is at least a little bit insane one way or another."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Loke sat in a field by himself not too far away staring at the flower he held in his hand, only for it to wither away almost instantly, and his face fell 'It must be almost time…'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Luke looked down at what was left of the enemy base "Well that's done, now we might as well just head back home and see how the new guild hall is coming along."
"I don't know about that." Lucy gave a shrug "I was actually thinking that since we finished a job early for once, what do you say we stop by a hot spring or a spa and take it easy for a day or two?"
"I'm okay with that. Any objections?" he received no reply "Sounds like a plan to me. Plus maybe I can see what Gray's new stalker wants, or at least confirm that she won't be a threat to the guild at some point.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Hosenka Village, the most popular resort in all of Magnolia. Famous for its spas, this flamboyant if somewhat dodgy tourist attraction was designed by a duke who was fascinated with the Orient and its architecture."
Lucy sat in the hot springs, brooding over Loke and his behavioral patterns "I just don't get it, I mean why would Loke be so afraid of me?"
"Quite the nice moon tonight isn't it?" Erza pulled herself to her feet, only for the steam to reveal that she was still wearing her armor "The bath feels quite nice as well."
"Hold on a second, you're bathing in your armor?!"
"I always feel more relaxed when I have my armor on."
"Really, doesn't it feel kind of weird?"
"Now that you mention it, yes it actually does. I may need to reconsider me definition of the term relaxation."
"Yeah, I don't think taking it easy is your strong point."
"Perhaps." Erza promptly requipped out of her armor.
"Oh wow, you look just as awesome without your armor!"
"Is that so? Well then, perhaps I should walk around the guild like this."
"Uh…"
"That was just a joke for the record."
"Right…"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Hells to the yeah!" Natsu burst into their room carrying a crap load of pillows "I say we get this party started Fairy Tail style!"
"Oh for fuck's sake." Gray let out a sigh "Look I'm trying to sleep here, do the world a favor and take the party outside."
"Hey come on man, it's a sleepover so you know what that means. We've gotta bust out our Pillow Fu on each other's asses, or are you too scared?"
"Of you, in what world?"
"In the world of fuck you, that's what!"
"Well since any chance of me getting any sleep while I'm sharing a room with the two of you is out of the question…" Luke pulled himself back to his feet "I might as well let you know that when it comes to pillow fights, I'm a god."
"WHAT IS A GOD TO A NON BELIEVER!" Natsu promptly threw a pillow at Luke at full speed.
"Come on you guys would it kill you to-" Gray was promptly cut off by Luke ducking under the pillow, causing it to slam into Gray's face instead "And now you're officially in for it so called non believer!" he bolted to his feet, only to end up "Well what do you know, would you look at all of these free pillows."
As it turns out, those were courtesy of Juvia, who was hiding a short distance away from their room behind a rock 'Go get them my prince, I'm here to support you every step of the way.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
3 ½ minutes later…
Luke loomed over the downed form of Natsu with a pillow smashed over top of his face "So tell me, do you believe now?" he received a squeal of pain in response "That's what I thought. And then there were two."
"THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!" Gray hurled a pillow at him at full speed.
Luke cranked his neck to the side and dodged it with ease "Not too shabby, but there's one thing you might want to consider."
"And what's that?"
"I have a cat."
"What?"
"DIE NON BELIEVER!" Bolt slammed Gray with a pillow from behind, blowing him clear through the wall and then crashing to the ground.
"That's playing dirty…"
"It's a pillow fight you little bitch, there's no such thing as playing dirty."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lucy on the other hand, she was just making her way through the streets with Plue right by her side, and she nonchalantly stepped over the unconscious form of Gray "At this point I think it's better not to ask. Honestly, at this point I don't even think any of those guys are human. Well I mean Bolt and Happy don't count since they're cats. That can talk. And have wings. Well you're a dog aren't you Plue?" she was met with a simple wave from Plue.
"Actually I'm a human, just like you!" it looked like a voice was coming out of him.
"Oh yeah, that's- Wait a second… Holy crap, you're a human?! I didn't even know you could talk!"
"Yep, I can talk alright Loony."
"Loony?"
"I come from a faraway land in search of free rides in cabs, the blessed weed, and Doritos. But mostly the weed."
Lucy glanced ahead to see a yellow tail poking out of a nearby bush "Very funny, now stop screwing around and get your yellow butt over here Bolt."
"Oh damn you caught on that fast? I bet Happy that I could keep it up for at least a day or two since you're so gullible."
"Oh joy, I can't tell you how much it thrills me that you think so highly of me." her tone was laced with sarcasm.
"What the heck are you doing out here anyway?"
"Just taking in some of the cool night air, what about you?"
"Waiting until World War Pillow Fight is over."
"The guys are having a pillow fight?"
"Natsu didn't last 10 seconds, but Luke and Gray are going at it pretty hot and heavy."
"You might want to rephrase that, it kind of sounds like-"
"I know what I said."
"...Well okay then."
"Yo yo yo, what up girl?" this was when two guys got her attention, both looking incredibly douche-like "That outfit looks so kickass on you, are you a tourist? We came here on vacation from Oshibana yo, I say the three of us have a funky good time yo!"
"You guys just can't be for real, anyway sorry but I'm just hanging out with some friends of mine tonight."
"Aw now don't play us like that yo!"
"I'm just gonna go."
"By friends you mean the douchey little cat and the snowman dude? Yo I've gotta admit, your friends are pretty funky. They can tag along with us yo." so they grabbed Lucy "There's no need to be shy."
"You guys are kind of pushy aren't you, come on Bolt do something!"
Bolt just looked up at her, suppressing a huge shit eating grin "Meow?"
"What the hell do you mean meow?!"
"She thinks here kitty can talk." the douchey looking guys both let out a chuckle "Isn't that so hot?"
"You've got it all wrong, he's just trolling you to screw with me!"
"Come and party with us girl, it's about to get funky yo!"
"Look guys I already told you I'm busy, so knock it off!" and that was when Lucy noticed that something was horribly wrong 'What the- What's going on? I can't move!'
"Don't worry baby, we're gonna have a great time. It's gonna be a funky party yo."
'These guys are wizards? Oh man, this is bad!'
"You ready yo?"
"Lucy get down!" that was when Loke suddenly burst onto the scene and kicked one of the guys out in a single move.
"Woah, that is whack you!"
"Then how's this?" Loke slugged the other guy across the face, sending him tumbling backwards in a heap.
Lucy opened her eyes and locked gazes with him "Loke…"
"Hey, you're not hurt are you?" he suddenly hid behind a tree a few feet away, his air of confidence having vanished "I'm really sorry."
"For what?"
"Well you see these two guys are renegade wizards, they've been targeting female tourists they catch walking alone. I was actually looking to collect the bounty on them, so you actually helped me out."
"Oh. Huh."
"Yeah, anyway I'd better turn them in before they decide to wake up and cause any more problems. I'll see you later." he promptly started dragging them away.
"Hey hold on a second Loke."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for rescuing me from those guys, and for getting my Gate keys back to me after the whole thing with Phantom Lord."
"Just forget it, it's nothing really."
"Hey how about this Loke, how about you and I go out together."
"...Huh?"
"Yeah."
Bolt promptly let out a wolf whistle "Well hot damn, the blonde likes to get things hot and steamy."
"I didn't mean it like that."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"The world renowned restaurant Super Express, a popular spot in Hosenka, offering its patrons a culinary adventure. While the forehead of its silent chef is certainly captivating, its wide selection of exquisite dishes is the true draw for locals and tourists alike."
Lucy glanced over to where Loke was sitting at the other end of the bar "You know you don't have to sit so far away like that."
"Uh yeah, sorry." Loke nervously sat down next to her.
"You know I've been meaning to ask you this for awhile, is it true that you have a bad history with Celestial Wizards?" she received no reply "Look if you don't want to talk to me about it then I suppose I should respect that, but I don't think it's fair for you to judge me just because I am one."
"Yeah, you're right about that. I'm sorry, I honestly wasn't trying to hurt your feelings or anything like that. I'm not good for you, so it's best for you to just forget about me."
"Okay, so why exactly are you giving me some cheesy breakup line?"
"That came out funny didn't it?"
"Oh for the love of-"
"You know I didn't mean it like that."
"Wait, you weren't serious were you?"
"No, I was just thinking about something that happened a while back."
"You think you can tell me about it?" Lucy glanced over to see the chef holding up what looked like a sad music album "Thanks but no thanks." she glanced back towards Loke and promptly let out a sigh "Well whatever, I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. Thanks again for saving me from those guys back there, I think I can finally see why you're so popular with the ladies. This was actually nice, things were starting to get a little bit awkward, so it felt good to be able to just sit down and talk to you like that. Anyway I'd better get going, see ya." she started walking away, only to be stopped by Loke grabbing her by the hand "Uh…"
"Wait." Loke suddenly stood and then pulled Lucy into a tight hug.
"Um, yeah?"
"Lucy…"
"What is it?"
"The truth is that I don't have long to live."
"What…? You… What the heck is that supposed to mean?"
Loke paused, then let out a chuckle that actually sounded somewhat bitter as he forced a clearly fake smile "I sure fooled you with that one, but it does make for a pretty good pickup line with the ladies doesn't it? It pulls at the heartstrings every single time, you should've seen the look on your face." he was met with a stunned look of disbelief, followed by an angry slap across the face that knocked his shades clean off, the slap receiving a nod of approval from the chef as a result.
"You jerk, I can't believe I bought into that! Bolt, Plue, we're leaving!" she promptly grabbed both of them by the tail and stormed out of the building.
Unfazed by this, Loke just reached down and picked up his shades 'What the heck am I even doing? This is just ridiculous. I can't let my feelings get the best of me, and I can't drag Lucy into something like this. It's too late for me, and I won't put her through that.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The next day came, and things at the sight of the guild hall were, well they were about the same as normal.
Cana glanced over to see Natsu and Gray snarling at each other like a bunch of pissed off animals, a usual routine for them "So what got those two so pissed off this time?"
"Last night we ended up in what Bolt is referring to as World War Pillow and it got way out of hand within the first 10 minutes." Luke told her flatly.
"Meaning that both of them got curb stomped?"
"Oh big time, but Natsu didn't even last 10 seconds and he's kind of in denial about it. Case and point."
Gray promptly rounded on Natsu "What the actual fuck were you getting so worked up about you idiot?!"
"Because I give everything 100% ass clown!" Natsu barked "Just like when I 100% knocked your ass out last night!"
"Are you just delusional or are you lying on purpose!"
"You're lying because you're the one who lost!"
Unknown to them, Juvia was watching them, or more accurately Gray, from afar with hearts in her eyes 'My beloved prince is always the winner in my heart, nothing is ever going to change that.'
"LUCY! I WON THE FIGHT SO TELL HIM!" Natsu and Gray promptly rounded on Lucy in hopes of a tiebreaker.
Lucy just turned from her place at the bar and shot both of them a dark glare "Both of you put a sock in it."
"...We're sorry ma'am, we promise we'll be quiet now." and then they were promptly sent on their way.
Lucy then went back to brooding to herself.
Luke let out a low whistle "Okay pulling an Erza by scaring Natsu and Gray into crapping themselves, not to mention brooding to yourself. What happened?"
"Nothing I want to talk about."
"But you're going to end up talking about it anyway, that's how it works when you've got friends who won't butt out when you want them to."
"...Dammit." Lucy let out a sigh "Look I'm really sorry, I've just got a lot on my mind right now is all."
"You wanna talk about it now or later?"
"Thanks but I think I'm going to pass, I'm not really in the mood to talk."
What went unnoticed was that Loke was watching her sadly from afar in a hiding spot 'This is my fault, all of it.' he glanced down and noticed his hand was fading away 'My time is almost up now, if I had to guess then I'd say before tomorrow morning.'
That was when Bickslow showed up at the scene looking like he went through some kind of natural disaster "Hey guys, what's up?"
"What the heck happened to you?" asked Lucy.
"You can thank Loke's girlfriends for this, they've been looking all over for the guy because over the past few nights he broke up with all of them, and now they're trying to find him and claw out any details they can get on the guy, even if it means they have to go through other members of the guild to get them. You might wanna stay out of sight for the time being."
"Good to know-"
"Is this the one?!" this was when the previously mentioned army of ex-girlfriends showed up looking mad as hell, and their angry gazes were locked onto Lucy "So this is the girl that was good enough for our Loke?! She thinks she's such hot stuff, she dresses like some random little slut! Don't tell me Loke's gonna marry her!"
"Oh heck no to the heck no, I'm out!" and so Lucy promptly ran, with the angry army of ex girlfriends all right on her tail.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"The one and only public bathhouse of Magnolia. In addition to its ability to relieve fatigue from its users, it also restores the magic energy of all who bathe here.'
"Bathhouses are so manly!" Elfman made his way out of the Men's side.
Lucy on the other hand, she made her way out of the Women's side "I like my bath at home but this place takes the cake, nothing beats soaking in a big tub." she glanced over and her eyes widened slightly "Loke?"
"Hey." Loke gave a small smile and handed her a small bottle "Try this, this kind of stuff really hits the spot after a bath."
"Oh, some flavored milk? Thank you, that does sound nice."
"Yeah, I thought I might have one with you if you don't mind."
"Just so you know, I had a pretty rough day today thanks to you and your stupid possibly rapid fan club."
"Let's just put that one behind us alright? Here's to you and your beautiful eyes, to which I say cheers." they both did a toast and downed the stuff.
"Good stuff isn't it?"
"Yeah no kidding."
"And the sky sure is pretty tonight."
"Yeah."
"Hey cool check it out, there's a shooting star up there. You know it sounds kind of silly now that I think about it, but I've always wondered where those fallen stars end up."
"I kind of feel sorry for them. Just think, once they fall from the sky they can never return to Heaven. Doesn't that seem sad?"
"Loke… Wait a second, that's another one of your sappy pickup lines isn't it? I can't believe that you actually almost fooled me like that twice."
"You saw right through me, didn't you?"
"I mean come on, can't you go like 5 minutes without trying to pick up a girl?"
"You know, I know I can be a real pain but I really am glad we got to talk again. Goodbye, take care." and without so much as another word, Loke took his leave and disappeared into the dark of night.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lucy later sat in her apartment, contemplating the mystery behind Loke "I just wish I knew what his deal was, maybe… Yeah, he should be able to tell me." she prepared to pull out a Celestial key, when…
"You don't need a key when you've got someone who can tell you what you need to know right here."
Lucy let out a shriek of terror and whipped around to find Bickslow sitting in her window with his tongue sticking out like always "What the hell?!"
"Calm down, it's just me."
"Yeah I know, I'm just not used to freaky looking guys climbing in through my window while my back is turned. No offense."
"I've been called worse. Anyway for reasons I'm not gonna explain yet I myself have been keeping tabs on Loke for the past few days because of how he's been acting, and because I know things about him that nobody else in the guild does."
"So you know what's going on with him, like whichever Celestial Wizard he had a thing with in the past?"
"I can tell you who he had some history with, but the how of it is his story to tell and not mine, so no luck on that."
"Fine, would you just tell me the stuff you can?"
"About 3 years back, Loke had a connection with the Celestial Wizard named Karen Lilica."
"Wait a second, you mean the Karen Lilica? I remember her, she was a Celestial Wizard from the Blue Pegasus guild. She was super famous a few years back, I actually had the issue from when she had been profiled in Sorcerer Weekly, but then she got killed on a job. They said that her master told her not to take it but then she did anyway. So what about Loke then, what kind of relationship did he and Karen have in the first place?"
"You're gonna want to hear that from him personally, coming from me would just make it sound totally psychotic."
"That sounds about right. Well I could go ahead and call on Grandpa Crux to do a search for me, but knowing him he probably wouldn't be able to tell me more than that anyway." but then she froze at her sudden realization "Hold on a second…"
"What is it?"
"Loke said something about a Fallen Star, but then… No he couldn't be."
"I've got a pretty good idea of exactly what you're thinking of right now, and if I'm right then it means you're right too, which leads me into my other reason for coming here. Apparently about an hour ago Loke quit the guild and ran off to god knows where."
"Wait what?! Did he say why?"
"No one else has a clue, so now everyone else is out looking for him all over the city. All they know is that he's been acting weird lately so this caught them way off guard."
"So then why do you…?"
"Oh my Human Possession magic let me figure that out, but enough of that. If you wanna help him before it's too late then follow me, I know where he's going."
"...How much time have we got before it's too late to help him?"
"Not much, so we've gotta move at my levels of speed." so Bickslow hoisted Lucy over his shoulder.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Loke made his way to a small cliffside outside of the city limits that was towered over by a massive waterfall, but in front of him sat a simple gravesite 'Karen Lilica, it sleeps a Celestial Wizard of Blue Pegasus. Yeah, because of my fuck up.'
"So this is where you went."
Loke glanced back to see Lucy and Bickslow appear behind him "Lucy. And Bickslow? Okay, I didn't see that coming."
"The whole guild is out looking for you."
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"That's Karen's grave isn't it?"
"Yes."
"She was a great Celestial Wizard, and she had a contract with you didn't she? Loke the Celestial Spirit. No wait, that's not your real name is it? Your name is Leo, Leo the Lion of the 12 Zodiac spirits."
"Well… I guess there's no denying it, especially if you had Bickslow confirm it."
"Plus keep in mind that I'm a Celestial Wizard too, and I happen to have contracts with a lot of spirits. Even if Bickslow here hadn't indirectly blurted it out I probably would've been able to figure it out myself without too much difficulty. Still though, you should've come and talked to me about this. Normally whenever the owner of a Gate Key dies the contract between the spirit and the wizard is terminated, and the spirit is then formed back into their own world until the key falls into new hands and a new contract is made. Your contract with Karen should've ended on the day that she died, I don't understand why you're still here. I've never heard of something like that before, I mean that's just not the way that it's supposed to work right? I know your kind can't survive in the human world for long, just like humans shouldn't be able to survive in your world, it will slowly sap away at your life force until finally there's nothing left for it to drain away."
"Yeah that's right, and it's been three years now."
"Wait, three years?! I didn't even think one was possible!"
"Pretty amazing isn't it, but I don't have the strength to keep it up anymore."
"Hold on, there has to be some way that I can save you! Why can't I just open a gate for you to pass through, just tell me why you can't go back to the Spirit World."
"You don't need to save me."
"What the heck are you talking about, if you don't get some help soon then you're as good as dead!"
"Look, even if I wanted to there's no way that I would be able to go back."
"But why?"
"I broke a fundamental law that applies to both wizards and their spirits, and as a result I was banished from the Celestial World for eternity."
"Loke… just what did you do?"
"I can't deny my crime, nor do I intend to deny it, so I have no choice but to face the punishment that awaits me. I'm a traitor to my own kind, I was contracted to Karen. But she died, and she died because I'm the one who killed her three years ago." that revelation shook Lucy to her very core.
"What…?"
"I'll just… you know, leave you guys to it and I'll let everyone back at the guild know that we tracked him down." despite receiving no reply, Bickslow promptly bolted back towards the guild hall 'Well at least someone tracked him down, and lucky him it's someone who's basically a gigantic "Fuck You" to tradition and junk like that anyway.'
"I… I can't believe it. You had a contract, and you killed her?"
Loke nodded "I did, and spirits who kill the wizards they're contracted with are forever banished from the Celestial world, so I'm just going to disappear right here in front of her grave."
"Loke…"
"It was about three years ago, Karen was a wizard working for Blue Pegasus and I was contracted to her, along with another Zodiac spirit, Aries the Ram. What sickened me about that was that Karen just used Aries like a pimp uses a whore, using her to entertain some of her pathetic lovestruck fanboys. She saw spirits as nothing but tools, like we don't have minds, hearts or feelings of our own. What made it even worse was that when Karen was in a really bad mood, she would beat Aries just to let her anger out. But then she tried to force Aries to stay in the human world for an entire week just to torture her, and that was the last straw for me. I tried my best to stop her, but I couldn't do much because Aries and I were still bound to her by a contract, so I did the one thing that I could. I demanded that Karen release me and Aries from our contracts with her, but she refused, and since she wouldn't be able to summon another spirit while I was in the human world, combined with the fact that I was able to use my own magic to come to the human world, I decided to stay for as long as she refused to terminate our contracts with her. She spent days trying to goad me into going back, begging me and even lying to my face about treating Aries better, and when that one didn't work she beat me and kicked me out of pure spite. About three months passed before I finally decided to forgive Karen, and I was planning to threaten to leave again if she kept abusing Aries. But then Master Bob came to see me and dropped the bomb shell that sealed my fate. Karen defied Bob's orders and took a job request without his permission, she gambled on the fact that a Celestial Wizard could summon more than one spirit at a time even though the process requires the wizard to expend massive amounts of magic energy. I guess she thought she could handle it, but in the end her body just wasn't able to take the strain. It was my fault, and I've lived with that guilt ever since that day three years ago. When someone dies it means they're gone forever, I wish that I could bring her back but it's just not possible. The only way I could make things right is if I were to die as atonement." but then his legs suddenly gave out and he began fading away.
"Oh no, Loke!"
"I guess… I guess this is it for me… It's my time…"
"What the hell do you mean it's your time?!"
"For me to disappear… forever…"
"But you can't just give up like this!"
'Karen… Ever since that day, I've been banned from the Celestial World…"
"Loke, your hands…"
"When I caused Karen to die… I broke a fundamental Celestial Law… and now I have to pay the price… for my actions… There isn't a day that goes by… when I don't think about her… or about what I did to her… I try to stay distracted… so that it wouldn't constantly be on my mind… but it's like she's always haunting me… I've been waiting for this… for my magic energy to finally run out… and now it's about to happen… right in front of Karen's grave… and then I'll be free… free of the guilt that's been burdening me for so long… But before I go… I do want to thank you… You were the one… who restored my faith… in Celestial Wizards…"
"Wait! I can save you Loke, you can't just give up yet!"
"Please tell everyone in Fairy Tail… that I said goodbye…"
"But it's just not fair!"
"Lucy…"
"I won't let you die! All you have to do is go back to the Celestial World and then your life force will be restored right? There has to be a way that I can send you back!"
"I'm afraid that's impossible… I broke the law… and now I'm being punished…"
"Even so, this just isn't right! You didn't kill Karen, it was just an accident! It just wasn't your fault!" she threw her arms around him.
"But Lucy… I…"
"Open Gate of the Lion, take Leo back to the Celestial World! Please! OPEN!" and then she finally broke down sobbing "Please…"
"Calm down Lucy… It won't work, it's okay…"
"It's not okay, I can't just sit here while my friend disappears right before my eyes and I know I can help him!" the two of them were suddenly engulfed in a pillar of golden light "OPEN GATE OF THE LION!"
"Just stop it Lucy, you're gonna use up all of your magic energy like this!"
"I DON'T CARE LOKE, I'M GOING TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES IN ORDER TO SAVE YOU! I'LL OPEN YOUR GATE! I WON'T GIVE UP, I PROMISE YOU I'LL GET YOU TO THE CELESTIAL WORLD!"
"It's too dangerous!"
"OPEN, GATE OF THE LION! OPEN!"
"It's not going to open for you Lucy, as far as they're concerned I'm responsible for what happened to Karen! They're not going to let me go back! Lucy just cut it out, you're starting to assimilate with me! If you don't stop this then you're going to disappear too!"
"I'm not going to stop until the Gate is open, I won't let you die! What's the point of having magic power if you can't use it to save the people you care about when they need you the most?!"
"Please don't do this, please don't make me live with the guilt of killing you too!"
"You didn't kill Karen, whoever decided they were responsible needs to know that their decision was wrong!" but then the golden light suddenly vanished and the two of them stopped fading away as a vortex opened up over the waterfall "Holy crap, what the heck is going on here?!"
"No, that's impossible… It's him… it's the Celestial Spirit King. What in the hell is he doing here of all places?"
"You mean he's the king, like the ruler of the Celestial World?"
"Yeah, it's him."
Sure enough, before them appeared the Celestial Spirit king in all of his glory "Hello Leo, my old friend. As you know all too well, both wizards and spirits must obey Celestial Law, and taking the life of a keyholder is forbidden under any circumstances. Though not by your hand, you are still responsible for the death of your keyholder Leo the Lion, and as such you have lost the trust of many of the others of our kind, and as such, though it brings me great pain, you had to be banished from the Celestial World for eternity."
"Now hold on a second!" Lucy protested "That doesn't seem fair, that sounds like a total load of crap!"
"Old friend, human girl, I have made my judgement, and despite the pain such a decision causes me I cannot take it back. Leo had broken a Celestial Law."
Loke looked on in disbelief 'You've gotta be kidding me, did he just show up because Lucy just blurted out something about him being wrong? That's crazy, why would he care about what one human thinks?'
However, Lucy wasn't done trying to defend Loke "You call Loke a friend but he's been suffering in the human world for three long years, he didn't kill Karen but he did stand up to her because somebody had to protect Aries!"
"As I stated before, I take no joy in this and I do find it heartbreaking to see my old friend in such a fragile condition."
"What the hell is wrong with you, an old friend is still a friend isn't he?! Well there's one in front of you right now asking for a second chance, so do all of us a favor and open your eyes already Stache Face!"
"...Stache Face?"
"The only reason Karen died was because she took on a job she couldn't handle despite being told not to, he had nothing to do with it! You have to change your verdict, because he's totally innocent!"
"Just drop it already!" Loke protested "It doesn't matter if the verdict is changed, the other spirits won't trust me! I'm not looking for any forgiveness, I want to disappear and finally be free from this guilt!"
"I WON'T LET YOU!" Lucy was suddenly bathed in another golden light "YOU JUST UP AND DISAPPEARING ISN'T GOING TO BRING KAREN BACK TO LIFE! ALL IT'S GOING TO DO IS CREATE MORE SADNESS! YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG, BECAUSE IT CAN'T BE A CRIME TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE THAT YOU CARE ABOUT!" and then she summoned every spirit that she had a contract with, from Taurus the Bull to Horologium the Clock and all of the others.
'Unbelievable, she summoned all of her spirits at once! Not even Karen was able to do something like that!'
"What about all of your friends, are you just going to leave them?! If you were to die then you would leave me and Aries, along with everyone else from Fairy Tail behind! Think about all of us, and think about how miserable we would be without you!" but then all of her Celestial Spirits disappeared, as did the golden light, and she finally collapsed to the ground.
"Lucy!"
"All of my friends who came forward just now… They feel the exact same way that I do right now…" Lucy shot a glare back at the Celestial Spirit King "If you're a Celestial Spirit too then you can sympathize with what Loke and Aries went through!"
"Would you just stop it, you're gonna end up like Karen if you keep this up! Don't risk your life to save mine!"
"Not an option, you're a member of Fairy Tail so you should know that all too well!"
"...Perhaps you do bring up some valid points. Hearing you speak so highly of my old friend does bring a new perspective on these events, that intention does matter almost as much as the law, if not moreso. Leo had no choice in committing his crime, or else his brethren Aries would be forced to suffer at the hands of an abusive master, and the human girl is willing to risk her life to save Leo, one that she considers to be a friend as well. While I am moved by how commendable your bond of loyalty to each other is, it is not enough of a reason. However, taking the circumstances into consideration, I suppose that I can make an exception in this case, but this is once and only once. Leo the Lion of the 12 Zodiac spirits, you are hereby granted return passage to the Celestial World."
Now in high spirits thanks to the good news, Lucy gave the Celestial Spirit King a wink and a thumbs up "Alright you're awesome, thanks a ton Stache Face!"
"Just please, never call me that again. You are exonerated now, be grateful to the guidance of the stars." the king started fading away.
However, Loke still wasn't satisfied "I have to make it up to her… Please sir, I just have to do this."
"Very well then, if you insist on atoning for your actions in the past then I hereby order you to live your life in service of your friend, the human girl who was willing to risk her life in order to save yours. You are fortunate to have found such a loyal friend. I suggest that you protect her with your life, just as she fought to save yours." and with that, the Celestial Spirit King faded away as time started anew.
"I…"
"You heard the guy." Lucy shot him a grin.
Loke looked at the grave and saw what looked like a vision of Karen smiling at him and fading away before his very eyes, and he wiped away his tears and smiled "Hey Lucy."
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to say thank you, and tell Bickslow I said so to him too." and then he disappeared as well.
Lucy looked down and noticed a gold Zodiac key lying in her hand "Sure thing, and I'll be sure to let everyone back at the guild know that you're okay."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It didn't take long for the news about Loke to spread to everyone else in the guild, and by that I mean everyone found out by the next morning.
Luke raised a surprised eyebrow, with pretty much everyone else being jaw dropped "So you're actually a Celestial Spirit?"
Loke gave a shrug "Yeah that's about the sum of it, sorry I never told you before."
"Hey don't worry about that, I completely understand. You know looking back it was actually kind of obvious, I mean now that I think about it you smell different compared to everyone else in the guild."
"Yeah I guess so."
"Still though I'm surprised that I never caught onto you, but then again you don't really stand out in comparison to the rest of the Celestial Spirits like Taurus or Aquarius or Cancer."
"Well to be fair a good number of them do like animals, but to be fair Virgo has a human form too so you can't just assume that we're all animals."
"Yeah you say that, but I saw her before she became one of Lucy's spirits and she was a literal gorilla." Cana pointed out.
"That's just an ability she has, and truth be told no one actually knows what she looks like when she's not contracted with anybody. Truth be told I'm actually a lion spirit."
"You mean as in a big cat, that kind of lion?" asked Bolt.
"Yep, that's exactly what a lion is."
"You just lied right to my face. I respect that."
"Thanks."
"So are you actually okay though?" asked Luke "I mean shouldn't you be resting back in the Celestial World and recovering your power?"
"Yeah but I'm doing a lot better than I was before, I just wanted to come and say hi. Well that and I couldn't wait to see Lucy again."
"You try carrying her away like a crazed stalker or something and I'm sending you back to the Celestial World in a bodybag."
"Sorry did you say something?" Loke was already walking away carrying the squirming and protesting form of Lucy in his arms, only to be grabbed by the hood of his jacket and yanked back a few yards "Ow, okay maybe I deserved that."
"What. The fuck. Did I just say?"
"I don't know, I wasn't listening to you." he set Lucy back down and wrapped an arm around her waist "I was a little bit preoccupied with the princess right here."
"Alright you know what, I think you'd better go back now." Lucy held up his key "You need to be careful though, I mean you're back up to full strength just yet."
"Yeah I figured as much, but before I go I got you something." he held out to them what looked like tickets "Here you go."
"What are those?"
"These are tickets to some awesome beach resort, you did so much for me it's the least I could do for you."
"The beach?! Holy crap a vacation, that sounds amazing!"
"I already gave Natsu, Gray and Erza their tickets and I hope you guys have a good time down there."
"Come on you three, chop chop! We don't have time for lollygagging!" this was when Erza came along dressed for a vacation, with Natsu propped up on the massive cart of luggage she was carrying with her (out of commission due to motion sickness) and Gray just following behind her without a shirt on "Now hurry up or I'm leaving the three of you behind."
"You don't need that much stuff!"
Luke on the other hand glanced back at Loke "So are you okay now, I mean with what happened to you in the past?"
Loke nodded "Yeah I think I am, I mean I'm always gonna have to live with what happened in the past, but now thanks to Lucy I have the courage to start moving forward again."
"I know how that feels, I used to be pretty much the same hot mess as you were after what happened to Mira. But I knew that getting rid of myself wouldn't fix anything, and I knew I couldn't take back what happened, so now I'm doing what I can to make sure that what happened to her never happens again. Now I'm not just another member of Fairy Tail, I'm on a different path. The path of the Draconic Guardian of the Fairies, but then again that title sounds pretty stupid. To put it in simple terms, I'm a dragon guarding the Fairies."
"And thanks to Lucy I'm not just another member of Fairy Tail anymore either, I'm her Celestial Spirit. Now that she's my wizard I promise to always protect her, and I'll be there for her whenever she needs me, her valiant knight."
"But she's not just your wizard, she's one of your friends too."
"Yeah, I know that. I can't wait for when I get to start working with her. All of you be sure to take care." and with that, Loke disappeared in a flash.
"We will, and I'll make sure of that."
That was when Erza came up to him "Are you packed yet? The rest of us are about ready to leave."
"You know I'm just doing some thinking. I'm in the same situation that Loke was in, so I know exactly how he feels and the kind of guilt that those things can cause. The guilt over those kinds of things never goes away, at least not completely, because I took that guilt and turned it into resolve. And besides, I know that I have people that I care about and care about me here at Fairy Tail. All things considered we're all pretty lucky, lucky to be part of a family as awesome as this one."
Erza gave him a small smile "I couldn't have said it better myself. Now let's get going, after everything that's happened I think it's safe to say we could use a vacation."
"Soaking up the sun, doing some swimming in the ocean… one other thing I have no intention of mentioning in front of you guys. Cana in a bikini, both top and bottom.'
"I think I know what that is, now let's go and have some nice and relaxing fun for a nice change of pace."
"Sounds good to me."
Things seemed so calm and peaceful for once for the lot of them, and Luke couldn't help but notice how happy Erza looked in particular.
But little did any of them know that what was about to come next would quickly wipe the smile off her face…
A/N:
And thus we learn the truth about Loke, or Leo the Lion as he is truly know, as well as giving Bickslow of the Thunder Legion a little bit of spotlight, and a small bit of foreshadowing of the Tower of Heaven arc next to come.
I don't think many people will disagree when I say that out of everyone in the Thunder Legion, Bickslow is the most underutilized, especially considering he apparently knew about Loke being a Celestial Spirit before anyone else in the guild did, which is why I decided to give him some screentime in this chapter by having him help Lucy track down Loke, as well as catch her up to speed on some of Loke's past.